I will be pretty sad when Veronica gets bigger.  Or, actually, when her parents sell their place.  It has this great blue wall with a white coverlet on the bed and the perfect window…sigh.  I used it for their clean and simple newborn photos HERE and then again this past weekend when we visited.  It’s great to work with friends – you just tell them “Actually I want her undressed on your pretty white blanket”  And they say “Okay!”  (Fine, if we’re being honest I would say it to a client as well.  But it’s a lot more comfortable when it’s friends.)  We went back to visit John and Rachel and see “baby Veronica” as my daughter calls her.  My has she changed!!  So much bigger with the most adorable little rolls.  I think she is just about the cutest seven month old on the planet.   No, I’m not biased at all!!!!  ;)  But can you honestly look at these and tell me she isn’t?  Those cheeks, that dusting of red hair, those lips GAH!!  Perfection!  We even got to go outside for a few minutes and use the pram that was Rachel’s when *she* was a baby.  I have had plans for that since I saw it at her shower.  Ideally it would have been about 60 degrees warmer but I’ll take what I can.  She is perfect as are her mommy and daddy.  Much love to you guys!!  (And just remember, I need a blue wall in the new place, too.)

Hoyts Cinemas.  That is where it all started.  Hoyts Cinemas in Carousel Mall back in Syracuse.  I was a 16 year old high school senior working the concession stand and box office when I first met Jaimie.  At 18, she was a little bit older than me and a student at Syracuse University.  We immediately hit it off and became good friends.  We stayed in touch while I went away to school and she was a big part of convincing me I *needed* to come back to Syracuse for school and a better partying academic atmosphere.  She was instrumental in helping me (forcing me to) join the marching band with her as well as the sorority that went along with it.  She was one of my best friends and we even lived together for a year as well.  As we got older we went our separate ways geographically but always stayed very much in touch visiting for any and all reasons.  When I started planning my wedding, she was one of the first people I wanted as my bridesmaid and she was one of the first I told when I was pregnant.  Basically, she has been there through it all.  :)  There is this rule I have in my business that I stole from friends.  If you have seen me pee, puke or cry, your session is free.  Needless to say she had that allllll very well covered hahaha!   No matter how much time passes, it never feels like we have been apart.  :)  I mentioned in a post last year “The true friends.  Someone that I know calls them “rocking chair friends” – the ones we’ll sit with on our porches when we’re 85 and drinking lemonade on a hot day.  That person.  That friend.”  That is my Jaimie.  :)

When she and Chris got engaged I was so, SO happy for her.  Their wedding was absolutely amazing and beautiful and perfect.  And then about seven months ago I got a message on my phone asking if I had any availability in December.  :)  They were pregnant!! I immediately put them on my calendar.  No way would I miss those photos.  Though Kyleigh made her entrance about a week and a half early, I did a quick drive down to NJ for the photos.  Being the wonderful baby that she is she did not make a peep the entire session.   And she is just as gorgeous as her mommy.  :)

It’s that time of year!  I don’t know where the months have gone but it is New Years Eve – CRAZY!!!!  So, time to reflect on my top ten favorites on the year.  I cheated a little teeny bit this year.  :)  So from 10-1.

#10b.  Moment of love between this family who was told their daughter might not survive the day she was born.  ::love::

#10a.  Mothers rarely ask for nursing photos.  I love this quiet, beautiful moment and wish more moms would do a shot like this.

#9.  After trying three years for a baby, this photo is priceless.

#8.  The colors, the outfits, the light, the adorable kids, this is a perfect family portrait  :)

#7.  Seeing his bride for the first time, Renzo’s reaction was wonderful.  Knowing that bride since she was about seven years old made it even more special to me.

#6.  A toddler and a newborn.  One of the most difficult shots to get but this one is just one of my favorites ever EVER.  One of the most adorable big sisters!

#5.  I did photos of some gorgeous baby bellies this year.  These are my top two favorites.  :)

#4.  This moment between father and daughter was made even more special when someone pointed out his arms crossed are also American Sign Language for Love.  ::melt::

#3.  My favorite family session ever so two shots from that.  Them just being a loving, adorable family.  No posing involved.

#2.  The birth.  One of my favorite moments that I have ever ever photographed in my life and my favorite moment of the year.

#1.  My favorite image of the year.  I will probably never get another family and nursery like this again in my life.  It hangs as a 20×30 canvas in my office.

I have had an amazing year and I cannot WAIT to see what 2012 brings me!!!

Although I have gotten to do some pretty amazing things with my job, I had never gotten to photograph a birth.  It was one of those things in the back of my mind as a “bucket list” item.  Something I’d love to do if I got the chance but it would be pretty difficult to make it all work.  It’s next to impossible to be on call 24/7 for a laboring client when you have kids and a working spouse!  Thankfully when Dani went into labor two days before Christmas, the stars aligned and I got to photograph my first birth.  Amazing doesn’t begin to describe it.  First, to be allowed to witness a birth at all is mind-blowing.  To have it be your friend, even more so.  And to be the photographer for it???  WOW.  I got home and was just so so excited.  I looked at my husband and said “You get to do this every day?!?!  (he’s an OB-Gyn for those new to me)  How does it ever not get to be the coolest thing EVER???”  And he said that that never happens.  :)  And looking at the doctor’s face in the one photo after James was born shows just how happy and beautiful and miraculous every birth is.  And Dani??  She made it look easy.  Just a few sets of pushes and she became a mommy for the second time.  She did GREAT throughout the entire process.  It was pretty much a dream birth.  For them and for me.  :)

The slideshow can be seen below, or scroll down for the individual photos used.  :)

Thank you all for a wonderful year and happy holidays!!!

All righty.  It has been a great week of giving away things that I love.   Some of them totally related to my job and others, eh, nothing to do with my job (although wine and coffee sometimes get me through, the wine afterwards of course).  But that is what makes it fun!  Thankfully my server has been able to withstand triple the regular traffic I’ve gotten LOL!  And hopefully you’ve had a chance to check out my photography and will come back to visit after this is all over as well.  :)  Today is the last day and I am ending with one of my absolute FAVORITE things that I love and cannot live without especially at this time of the year.  Kind of like how I started the week with two types of coffee, I end the week with two types of shopping.  Yay shopping!!!

Target and Amazon

Love love love love.  I can find pretty much anything I need between those two stores.  And, as a side note, I am also obsessed with my Amazon Prime.  In fact if I cannot find it available with Prime shipping that person is not getting it.  :P

So!   Today I am giving the last winner their choice of either a $50 gift card to Amazon.com or to Target.  Anyone across the country can enter today!  And as a bonus, the gift certificate will be sent via email so you can use it right away.  Just in time to get yourself a little something special for the holidays or for someone else.  Simply leave a comment below, you have until midnight tonight.

Good luck!!  And thanks so much for visiting!

First off, congratulations to Stephanie, yesterday’s winner according to Random.org.  Stephanie I emailed you so make sure you get back to me!  :)

Ahhhh..Day 3.  Today is for the locals (or people willing to drive here).  One of my most favorite things.  Wine.  Who doesn’t like a good bottle of wine??  (Well I guess there are people that don’t.  But I don’t know any of those people.)  Unfortunately pesky little interstate and mailing laws prohibit me from mailing my favorite bottles of wine to anyone.  BUT I can give away a $25 gift card to my most favorite wine store – The Savory Grape down in E. Greenwich.  It’s a wonderful place if you haven’t discovered them yet!  They are extremely knowledgable and very helpful.  They even keep track of your purchases if you sign up for the club card and can recommend wines based on past purchases.  And they give a discount when buying six bottles or more.  Not that I would EVER do such a thing.  ;)  (It’s my husband.  All him.  I sent him to buy this and he came home with eight bottles. See??  Bad influence.)

Anyways.  Free money ($25!).  To buy WINE with (and they have some GOOD stuff).  If wine is not for you, stick it in someone’s stocking who does like it!  Same rules as always, leave a comment below for your chance to win.  Entries accepted until midnight, winner selected tomorrow.  Obviously you must be 21 years of age or older to win.  Or give it to someone 21 or older.

Good luck!  :)

So if you have been following my Facebook Page you may have perhaps noticed that it is my birthday week.  It started on Saturday as I will celebrate an anniversary of my 29th birthday this coming Saturday.  I love my birthday.  Being eight days before Christmas has always had it’s challenges but I love it.  When I was little I used to get excited because whenever it was birthday time, there were always lights on people’s houses to see.  Who else (other than December birthdays) can say that?  There was some combining of gifts over the years but for the most part my family and friends did a great job.  Now that I am older and have a business of my own, I have decided to give away five of my favorite things for my birthday week.  So stay tuned all week to see what I’ve got for you!  To enter the contest you only have to comment under the post.  Easy peasy!  Make sure to leave your email when you send in your comment so I can reach you.  Comments will be accepted until midnight and I will select the winner the next morning.

First up today, one of the most important things in my life.  COFFEE.  I cannot function properly without coffee.  I just can’t.   Now I admit, I am a bit of a cheater when it comes to coffee.  For regular coffee in the morning, it has to be Dunkin Donuts.  Don’t bring me Starbucks, I won’t drink it.  But for specialty drinks, it’s Starbucks all the way (the exception being Dunkin Donuts Mint Hot Chocolate – that’s pretty awesome).  So today’s gift to one lucky winner, a $20 gift card to either Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts.  You can choose.  The other will go into my wallet into my husband’s stocking.

Leave a comment to be entered to win and good luck!

There are others from this session with MY family to share.  But really, this explains why bribery works.  And why I shoot in continuous mode with my daughter.  :)

A bit of blunt honesty time here.  I’ll let you in on a little secret most photographers have.  I sometimes really don’t like my work and get really bored with what I do (the work I produce, not the job itself).  It’s true.  I’m not being overly dramatic or self-deprecating.  I really do, at times, dislike what I have done.  I’ll love a session for a month or two.  And then I’ll go back and it just won’t do it for me anymore.   All I can see is what I did wrong or how I could have done something differently.  And yes, the opposite is also true at times.  A session I didn’t really like, shots I wasn’t really happy with; I’ll walk away for a bit, then come back to them and like them much more.  But I digress.  A lot of the time I can only see what I am doing wrong.  And I get frustrated.  I see in my work the same things that I rely on time and time again.  I desire so strongly to break out of the norm and do something different.  Change how I am shooting.  But in the end, I fall back on what is reliable.  What is expected.  I stay inside my nice little box of “do this, shoot that.”

It’s scary to step outside the box.

When you stay inside the the box things don’t change.  You don’t mess up.  Your work stays the same.

It’s also pretty boring if you never step outside the box.  You never mess up.  Your work always stays the same.  Complacency sets in.

And when that happens over and over, you kind of get the “blahs.”  And the blahs are no good.  Especially when you’re looking at four sessions in 48 hours!!

Amy’s session was my breaking out of the box and banishing the “blahs”.  I had been pretty “eh” about myself and my work recently.  Her session helped me out of my funk and helped me love my camera again.  It definitely helped me love maternity all over again!!  We set up three gorgeous, fun outfits and two locations.  Add to that a beautiful momma-to-be who knows how to stand and who is an absolute natural as well as some yummy light and great backdrops and you have the cure for the blahs.  I didn’t do anything totally ground breaking here.  But for ME it was something different and outside of MY box.  I had total say on locations and a lot of say in the outfits.  The poses were about 50/50.  But I love love love what we came up with together and I hope you do, too.  :)